Two out of two for the Musketeers !

Friday, 14 October 2022

What a week it has been for The Musketeers, five days on from Aramis Grey's win at Chelmsford the syndicate's other horse Cry Havoc returned to the Essex track to record her second win of the season.

Cry Havoc's return to form has been nothing short of remarkable considering the life saving hock surgery she endured last year. She has now had back to back wins with this latest victory coming after her win at Lingfield in August. Over her favoured trip of seven furlongs and ridden once again by Ray Dawson she was well fancied for this Class 4 handicap. Breaking from stall 8 she was covered up in midfield until the final furlong when she began her challenge and stole a length and a half on them. However she had a fight on her hands as the fast finishing Odisseo closed her down but thankfully for us the line came just in time. 

The winning margin was a nose but this was a well judged ride by Ray Dawson and our thanks go to him. We are delighted for the Musketeers and so pleased for Bola who looks after her at home.

Amazing Aramis Grey

Monday, 10 October 2022

The Musketeers syndicate were rewarded with an eighth win from their amazing mare Aramis Grey who plundered yet another victory on Saturday night at Chelmsford.

Her last win was at Windsor in May but she has run well and been placed a few times since. At this time of year our syndicate members decide whether to keep their horses in training for another year or not. Following a vote the decision was made to carry on with the now five year old Aramis Grey and she has rewarded them immediately proving that she still has plenty left in the tank as far as racing is concerned. 

Saturday's race was the feature on an eight race card at Chelmsford. She was strongly fancied and with familiar face Callum Shepherd riding her the signs were positive. Racing in her customary fashion towards the rear of the field she came wide as they turned into the straight and made easy work of her seven rivals to go on and win by a cosy three quarters of a length. The Musketeers were represented on the evening by Ann and Darren Lewitt who were understandably delighted. Ann was in tears and this just shows how much racehorses can mean to their owners. All of the Musketeers are so proud and happy of Aramis Grey as are we here in the yard. Congratulations to them and thank you to Callum Shepherd who gave her a great ride yet again. We would like to say well done to Lewis Purdie who led her up as this was his first winner for the yard.

Keep going Aramis, you really are amazing !

War Chant Wins at Brighton

Wednesday, 05 October 2022

Vicky Markowiak's homebred two year old colt War Chant gained his first win yesterday at Brighton.

This striking colt is by War Command out of Vicki's mare Fanci That who was also trained by Rae and bred by Vicki. War Chant always looked forward and this was his fourth run of the year. He made his debut back in June at Nottingham over six furlongs where he ran very green and also received a hefty bump in the race which did not help him. He didn't run again until the end of August when he ran at Newmarket's July course, this time over seven furlongs and again showed his greenness by jumping slowly from the stalls and not really getting into the race. His next run was at Leicester where the penny was starting to drop and he travelled much better in the early part of the race despite weakening two furlongs out and dropping off the pace. These first three runs on first glance at the form book look poor efforts but they were all competitive Novice races so when he was given a rating of 50 for his handicap debut he stood every chance among horses of the same level as himself. 

Vicky and Rae decided to target a Nursery Handicap at Brighton over seven furlongs and David Probert was booked to ride. He raced handily during the early part of the race and as they drew into the straight they fanned out across the track and with just over a furlong to go they moved across to the near side rail. With half a furlong to go David Probert got to work on War Chant who responded well to pressure to win by a length and three quarters. This was a determined effort from the colt as he was also hampered slightly by Bold as Brass who hung right and gave him a bump as they turned into the straight.

His win is another homebred success for Vicky and we are delighted for her as she is a great supporter of the yard and thoroughly deserves this win. We would like to extend our grateful thanks to David Probert for the ride and and to say well done to Steven Ford who looks after War Chant.

Two out of two for Jewel in My Crown

Monday, 26 September 2022

Eamonn Duggan's homebred Jewel In My Crown won her second race in a fortnight yesterday, this time at Epsom following up on her win at Kempton on the 12th September.

Showcasing her versatility once again she made a return to the turf after her all weather win earlier in the month. This was her sixth win overall and she shows no sign of losing her enthusiasm for racing. Her target this time was a Class 3 Handicap over Epsom's helter skelter track. Dropping back a furlong to a mile and a quarter from her win two weeks ago, she was able to get decent ground for the time of year with it officially described as good. Callum Shepherd was booked again after piloting her to the Kempton win and she was drawn 3 of the 7 runners.

Breaking a tad slowly she travelled towards the rear in the early part of the race and once they swung around Tattenham Corner and started the descent she dropped to the inside rail and began her challenge. With three rivals on her outside she battled gamely and refused to lie down eventually beating the Jim Boyle trained Bad Company by a head. An official photo finish was called but it was never in doubt and this tough, genuine filly had nailed the win.

We are delighted for Eamonn as he is a great supporter of the yard and we would like to thank Callum Shepherd for a brilliant ride. Well done also to Shazad Ahmad (Bola) who looks after her at home and to Nasir Bashir who rides her every day. We haven't got a winners picture yet to accompany this article so we thought we would show you a photograph of her in her other role as a children's entertainer !

A busy ten days for Chestnut Tree Stables

Thursday, 22 September 2022

We have had a hectic time over the last ten days with various events being held at the yard.

On Saturday 10th September we held a long overdue Owners Morning which was very well attended. It was lovely to finally meet Tim and Debi Oliver who have a share in the two year old filly Friends Together as members of the 'Can't Say No' syndicate. The weather was great and fabulous food as always was provided by Jo at Newmarket Secret Kitchen. We had joined forces with Discover Newmarket to offer a private tour of the National Stud at the end of the morning and several of our owners took part and very much enjoyed it.

On Wednesday 14th September we hosted a community event as part of National Racehorse Week. We invited pupils from Exning Primary School to join us for 'Evening Stables' and what a fun evening it was ! Parents, children and deputy head Ruth Clifford-Turner arrived at 4pm and enjoyed orange squash and biscuits followed by a tour of the yard. The children had fun dressing up in jockey's silks and they all had a ride on the Equiciser. They were also given activity booklets to fill in with a Q & A about what they had seen during their visit. It was a super evening and the children seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves. A big thank you to Great British Racing who provided free tickets for Newmarket races for the parents of the children.

National Racehorse Week concluded with us opening the yard to the public for the Henry Cecil Open Weekend on Sunday 18th September and we had a steady stream of visitors throughout the morning. All who came to see us were most complimentary about our staff and how welcome they were made to feel so well done to the members of our team who worked hard to make the morning a success. We just have time to catch our breath now before the October Yearling Sales begin and it all starts again !